4

Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run

Chapter 296 Past Imperfect

"

Inside Scarlett was a little shaky after the encounter with Gemma, but she wasn't going to let Gemma see that. She wasn't going to let Gemma ruin her friendship with Tara and her relationship with Jax.

Gemma was a sad, pathetic woman who feared that Jax would find love with a woman and she would have to share his heart. Her experience dealing with a murderous psycho ex-fiance would come in useful when dealing with Gemma.

"How are you doing?" Scarlett asked.

"Tara's saving my ass," Jax said with a grin.

Scarlett opened the bottle of water, unwrapped the straw, put it in the bottle and held it for Jax as he drank.

"Thanks," Jax said after he drank half the bottle of water.

"How do you feel?"

"Tara's much better at this than Chibs."

Tara was sewing closed the wound in Jax's left butt cheek where Chibs had cut out a bullet.

"That's because I numbed the area first. I can't imagine just cutting into someone. Scarlett, why don't you sit down? You can give him more water when he wants and I don't need you to hand me things now."

"Bobby was telling me how you threatened Chibs. Scared the hell out of him," Jax said to Scarlett.

"How did you do that?" Tara asked.

"I told him I'd shoot him."

"No, you left out the best part," Jax said. "Come on say it."

"I told him if he cut on Jax again, I'd take a bottle, break it off and shove the jagged end so far up his ass he'd be spitting glass."

Tara laughed.

"That's a good one. I'm going to remember that in case I need to use it."

"I wasn't really going to do the bottle thing."

"You would have done the gun thing?" Jax asked.

"Hell yes! I even have my gun with me. Chibs could have killed you."

"He probably would have killed you if he'd dug around on you again," Tara said.

Juice returned.

"Do you still need me?"

"Yes. Wash your hands and put on some gloves."

"I'm going to do what I did before," Tara said to Jax. "You'll feel a pinch and some burning as the lidocaine goes in. It will take a few injections. As I cut away tissue to get to the bullets, you shouldn't feel anything. If it hurts, tell me and I'll give you another injection."

"Do you remember the last time you were in the clubhouse?" Jax asked Tara.

"Oh, no," Tara said shaking head. "I'm still trying to forget that."

"Which one of you is going to tell me?"

"I was only there for the end. Come on Tara, tell her."

Tara focused on numbing the top of his thigh and butt with injections.

"When I was a teen, sometimes I was crazy. One of the guy's old wives had just opened her own porn studio. I kind of got obsessed with the idea the Jax was going to watch one of the movies being shot.

"There was this one bitch named Ima and she had been chasing Jax since high school. Ima had gone from street corner whore to porn star in just a few months. I had always been jealous of her. It was just one of those hate at first sight."

"I was never with Ima," Jax added.

"Chibs would sometimes say things in a joking way but I didn't always see the joke. He kept saying he and Jax were going to watch Ima filming. I may have been drinking and I may have smoked a little weed. I think that the damned weed was laced with PCP or something because I was absolutely sure that he was at the porn studio. I didn't know where it was so I came down to the clubhouse to find out where it was because I was going to catch him."

Tara handed Juice the used syringes and took the scalpel and began to slowly and methodically cut away tissue exploring for the bullets.

"Finish the story," Jax prompted.

"I was yelling and screaming. Did I mention I was drunk and high? Chibs wasn't there, so I took that as proof that Jax was at the porn studio. Of course that meant he was hooking up with Ima.

"I had a gun with me. It wasn't loaded. That was my only good choice. I was about ready to get it out of my bag and start waving it around when in he walks with a case of paper towels and toilet paper followed by Gemma. They had been on a Costco run. I was so embarrassed. Anyway, you can see why it was my last visit."

"You got another bullet out," Juice said clearly impressed with Tara's skill.

"There's still one more to get."

Scarlett was sitting next to Jax holding his hand and occasionally smoothing his hair back from his face.

"Jax's in pain," she said. "I think he needs another injection."

Tara studied Jax's face.

"I am just fine," Jax protested.

"Men," Tara said with a shake of her head. "Why can't they just admit they aren't superheroes?"

"Too many comic book movies," Scarlett replied.

"Hand me that syringe. I'm going to give Jax another injection. I'm going to have to cut deeper."

Tara worked quietly, making careful delicate cuts.

"That's it," she said holding up a bloody bullet. "All I have to do is stitch you up. How do you feel?"

"Like I'm going to live."

For the first time since she brought Tara into the clubhouse, Scarlett felt the tension in her body leave. She knew Tara could save Jax. She had a hard time watching the physical toll his injuries were taking on him.

"See, that wasn't so bad," Tara said as she finished stitching Jax's wounds closed. "Except for the fingers in the ass part."

"I am never going to live this down," Juice moaned. "Damn that Chibs."

"I'm alive," Jax said. "It's all good brother."

Scarlett and Tara laughed.

"

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Author's Note: Just a chapter or two until the big surprise.